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KABUL: An Afghan election watchdog ordered ballots from more than 200 polling stations to be invalidated on Monday after an inquiry concluded there had been rigging on those polling stations.Investigations into fraud in Afghanistan's elections have cut President Hamid Karzai's share of the vote to 48 percent, below the threshold for outright victory, a US election monitor said on Monday.Democracy International said figures released by Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) showed that almost 1.3 million votes cast in the August 20 poll were invalid, cutting Karzai's share of the vote from about 55 percent in the preliminary result.Following investigations into alleged fraud, the vote for Karzai's main rival Abdullah Abdullah rose to almost 32 percent, from the 28 percent he won according to official preliminary results, Democracy International said.

October 20, 2009 CHICAGO: When John Urso left Leslie Hindman Auctioneers on Sunday, he carried two shirts carefully hung and wrapped in plastic -- shirts too small for him to wear.But then again, it would be a shame to risk spilling spaghetti sauce on cloth that may have touched the king of rock 'n' roll."It's worth every penny," said Urso, who bought the priciest item in a Chicago auction of Presley memorabilia that included locks of Presley's hair allegedly from his famous 1958 Army haircut.Urso passed on the $15,000 hair, but he bought a white cotton shirt with "EP" monogrammed on the chest for $52,000. His second buy, a relative bargain at $28,000, was a red Ultrasuede shirt Presley wore for a photo shoot."I'm a huge fan of Elvis Presley," said Urso, who lives in Inverness, Ill. "Huge fan." Urso plans to show off the shirts in display cases alongside signed Presley albums.Another fan hoping to take home a piece of the kin...

Monday, October 19, 2009 MUMBAI: Kylie Minogue has failed to impress movie critics who have slammed her Bollywood debut in the film ‘Blue’.The Aussie singer was reportedly paid 611,000 pounds to appear in the 14 million pound project, the most expensive Bollywood film ever made.But the movie was tagged “idiotic” with critics panning the pint-sized beauty “as sexy as a fat housewife in a kaftan”, reports News of the World.The 41- year-old star also apparently missed the mark in her dance song Chiggy Wiggy, which is composed by Oscar winner A.R. Rehman for the up-coming movie “Blue”.

, Monday, October 19, 2009 LONDON: Britain rejects "in the strongest terms" allegations that it aided rebels behind a bomb attack on Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, a Foreign Office spokeswoman said Monday."We reject in the strongest terms any assertion that this attack has anything to do with Britain," a spokeswoman told a foreign news agency, commenting on Sunday's suicide attack near Iran's border with Pakistan.Prime Minister Gordon Brown's spokesman added: "It is extremely important that we continue with the diplomatic track with Iran," pointing notably to talks in Vienna hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Monday, October 19, 2009 SYDNEY: Bush fire in Australian state of Queensland has been under control at 27 places out of 37 blazes, although 14 locations are still on fire. The fire has already burnt about 380 square kilometers of bush and grazing land at Gaeta since it started late last week.Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner Iain Mackenzie says about 400 firefighters are battling 37 blazes across the state. 'We're bringing crews from the north of the state, which has had a little bit of respite, and the south of the state, which hasn't had the fire activity quite to date. "But of course while we deal with the fires that we have, we also still have to be prepared for the ones that could erupt."Fire crews and water bombers are at the scene of a fast-moving grassfire on the Bruce Highway at Bajool, south of Rockhampton.Further north, fires are also burning at Paluma and Woodstock and at Mount Garnet, west of Innisfail. In the south-east, there is also a fire ne...

Monday, October 19, 2009 MEXICO CITY - Hurricane Rick, the strongest eastern North Pacific storm in more than a decade, raged across open seas yesterday, but forecasters said it could veer into resorts at the tip of the Baja California Peninsula by midweek.The track of the Category 5 hurricane threatened to disrupt a major sport fishing tournament scheduled to start Wednesday in Los Cabos, where hundreds of fishermen - mainly Americans - were gathering.The hurricane’s winds were still a howling 175 miles per hour yesterday, down slightly from a peak of 180 miles per hour, according to the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami. But it was projected to move over cooler waters and weaken to about Category 2 status, with winds of around 98 miles per hour before hitting land.The eye was cantered about 500 miles south-southeast of Cabo San Lucas yesterday. Rick was moving toward the west-northwest at about 14 miles per hour, and it was expected to begin turning toward the northwest before cu...

Monday, October 19, 2009 CHICAGO: An auction of Elvis Presley memorabilia got bidders all shook up Sunday, with a clump of the late King of Rock and Roll's hair selling for 18,300 dollars and one of his shirts for 62,000 dollars.More than 150 items that had belonged to the former president of the Elvis Presley fan club went on the block at Chicago's Leslie Hindman auctioneers.The priciest items included a red ultra suede shirt worn by Elvis, which was sold for 34,000 dollars, and a monogrammed cream-colored shirt that sold for 62,000, according to the auction house's listing of post-auction sale prices.Two concert-worn scarves sold for a combined 2,318 dollars. A set of concert-used handkerchiefs went for 732 dollars.Presley's personal collection of single song mini-records, known as 45 rpms, sold for 3,904 dollars.Wedding and bridal shower photos of Elvis and wife Priscilla sold for nearly 6,000 dollars.Personal letters from Elvis's relatives were also among the i...

Monday, October 19, 2009 KINGSTON: Chris Gayle is widely known for smashing sixes off bowlers of any type but this aggressive batsman became victim of a player who has no relation with cricket.However, he is not an ordinary person but the fastest athlete of the world Usain Bolt who knocked off the wicket of Gayle.Both players’ birth place is Jamaica and their common value is their aggression.When Gayle stays at the wicket, bowlers find themselves in great trouble and in presence of Bolt, other athletes are seen far behind him.However, the scene became very interesting when two danger men from the same area faced each other in the field.In an exhibition match, played in Jamaica, Bolt took the bowl and Gayle held the bat.Gayle began in his aggressive style against Bolt but the game reversed soon when Bolt clean bowled Gayle and showed that he is not only a great athlete but knows the art of bowling very well.Bolt said: “I have been watching Gayle batting for many years and got idea wher...

SAO PAULO: Jenson Button clinched his first Formula One title with a fifth-place finish at the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday and his Brawn GP team made history by becoming the first to take the constructors' crown in its debut season. "This race was the best race I've driven in my life," Button said. "I knew I had to make it happen." He was ecstatic at the finish, singing Queen's "We Are The Champions" over the team radio as he crossed the line. Red Bull's Mark Webber claimed his second Grand Prix win ahead of Robert Kubica of BMW Sauber and defending champion Lewis Hamilton of McLaren. Home-crowd favorite Rubens Barrichello — Button's Brawn GP teammate and his closest rival at the start of the race — started from the pole but finished eighth after a puncture. Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, who also had a shot at the title entering the race, was fourth. Fifth was good enough to give Button an insurmountable 15-point lead over Vettel...

Sunday, October 18, 2009 SAO PAULO: Rubens Barrichello here Sunday won his home Brazilian Grand Prix to keep alive his challenge for the drivers world championship.The 37-year-old Brazilian claimed pole position Saturday for the 71-laps race after an extraordinary storm-hit three hours qualifying session that played havoc with worldwide television schedules. The local hero's last-gasp fastest lap for the Brawn GP team not only enabled him to outpace nearest rival Mark Webber of Red Bull, but also set up his first triumph in his home event at his 17th attempt.Backed by not only the crowd, aware that Barrichello grew up at Interlagos and began his career in the shadow of the great Ayrton Senna, but also his father, his family and many friends in the paddock, he has been followed by cheers and goodwill all weekend. A victory would not only be universally well received, but also enhance his prospects of staying in the title fight with Brawn GP team-mate and championship leader Briton ...

Sunday, October 18, 2009 OSAKA, Japan: Samantha Stosur captured her first career WTA title when she defeated Francesca Schiavone of Italy to win the Japan Open women's tennis tournament on Sunday.The Australian third seed, who dashed Caroline Wozniacki's defence of the title in the semi-finals on Saturday, chalked up a 7-5, 6-1 victory over the fourth seed in just 68 minutes.It was her sixth appearance in a final, following Cincinnati this year, Seoul in 2008, Prague in 2006, Gold Coast and Sydney in 2005.Stosur, 25, has previously won four ITF titles, three of them in Japan including one in Osaka.Stosur, the 2008 Wimbledon mixed doubles champion, put an end to Japanese Akiko Morigami's last appearance on the tour, and eliminated 2002 champion Jill Craybas of the United States on her way to the final.

Sunday, October 18, 2009 SHANGHAI: Russian Nikolay Davydenko stunned top seed Rafael Nadal 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 Sunday to win the Shanghai Masters.World-ranked two Nadal, on his way back from injury, has now lost his last two finals, the previous one in Madrid five months ago to Roger Federer.After winning the Shanghai Masters title, Davydenko enhanced his chances of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals in London. Roger Federer, Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro are the only players assured of their place at the showpiece finale to the season at the O2 Arena next month. Davydenko stays in the race for one of the last three places in the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals in London next month.The Russian has now won two Asian titles in the past three weeks after a trophy in Kuala Lumpur last month.The Russian's early break in the first set was countered by the Spaniard but Davydenko produced three stunning backhand winners to take the tie-break. The number six...